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Profile Building Tips for Study Abroad

 

What is AP

Advanced Placement program created by the College Board is for high school students. The exams are taken on each May by students and are to show your admissions officers that you’re ready for college-level work. If you have obtained high scores on the exam there is a possibility that American colleges may grant you placement. All AP exams (with few exceptions) have a multiple-choice section and a free-response section.

 

What is SAT

The SAT is a standardized test that allows students to demonstrate their mastery of a subject on a nationwide scale. The test measures your skills based on Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. Each SAT Subject Test runs for 60 minutes so you can choose which one you should take. If you are a student of class XI or XII you can submit your scores to the colleges you are applying. It is scored on a scale of 200 to 800 and the scores allow colleges to compare students at a higher level than GPA.

There are lists of Schools where the SAT Subject tests are compulsory.

SAT Subject Tests are offered in the following subjects in October, November, December, January, May, and June unless otherwise noted.

• Literature
• US History
• World History
• Math Level l (through Algebra ll)
• Math Level 2 (through Pre-Calculus & Trigonometry)
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Other Languages

 

How You can Benefit from Online Courses and Certificates

MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE courses have been changing how Internet-savvy students learn. Although useful in their own right, MOOCs also offer high school students the opportunity to distinguish themselves from their peers.

The most obvious use of a MOOC is to address weaknesses in your high school performance or augment your curriculum. If your high school focuses on basic science classes, you can use a MOOC to demonstrate your commitment to subjects like anatomy or astronomy.

If you received an uncharacteristically poor grade in a high school course, you can also select a MOOC to demonstrate that you are determined to correct past mistakes.

Some MOOCs offer certificates of completion, while others do not. Tools like MOOC List or Coursera enable you to search specifically for MOOCs that offer some form of acknowledgment. It is better to take a course that culminates in a certification

The admissions essay is another way to allude to your MOOC credentials. Many colleges will ask for evidence of leadership, of independence and of moments where you showed initiative. Completing a MOOC demonstrates all three.

Some Examples of Summer School Programs

• MIT’s startup summer School
• Michigan State University High School Honors Science/Mathematics/Engineering Program (HSHSP)
• John Hopkins University’s Engineering Innovation program

 

What is the Ideal Timeline to Start Working on Your Profile

‘Time and tide wait for none’. Once it has passed, you can only reflect on what has gone by. That is why as a student in high school, every decision you make can either make or break your career. With more time you can build a stronger profile.

• 9th standard is the perfect time to start
• 10th standard is also a good time
• 11th standard you still have time

12th standard is very late and you need to rush now if you want your profile to make an impact. Though, you should not let that stop you because it is better late than never.

 

What You Need to Focus on to Enhance Your Profile

• Academic
• Extra-Curricular/Non-Academic
• Academic scores from 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th-grade count
• AP Advanced placement
• SAT/ACT
• SAT Subject Tests
• Online Courses and certificates
• Summer School or student exchange program
• Olympiads

It is also important to see how you project your profile to the Universities through the application documents like Essays, LoR’s and Resume.

What are the Challenges and how to overcome them?

• Time Management
• Finding the right kind of Profile building activity
• Overwhelming!!

Here are some examples of a good profile. Let’s take a look.

Example 1:

CAND ID: CAND54321
9th: 90%, 10th: 92%, 11th: 85%
SAT: 1450

• Volunteered and raised 5Lakhs for Kerala Floods through the social media campaign
• Has a tech-based youtube channel with 25000 subscribers
• Represented his School in an international debating competition in Sri-Lanka
• School athletics-Vice Captain, won several prizes in athletics
• Done 2 certifications from Coursera
• Got admit from Amherst with Scholarship, the University of Maryland-College Park with Scholarship, UCLA, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Example 2:

• Cand ID: CAND12345
• 9th: 96%, 10th: 95%, 11th: 95%
• SAT: 1550, subject test 800 in Math, Physics
• 55 Hours of Volunteering done with Little Village
• Summer Internship with NASA
• School head boy
• Editor of School Magazine
• Got admit into Amherst with Scholarship, UCLA, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Carnegie Mellon

 

How can Manya-The Princeton Review helps you

• We have exclusive Profile Building packages which you can start from 9th grade onwards.
• We offer Admission consulting services- where you will be guided by our undergrad experts.
• We offer the coaching for test preps: ACT, SAT, AP, Subject tests.
• Contact us to book a one-on-one meeting with our experts across the country 1800-102-4646 (Toll-free)

If this article has helped you plan ahead for the SAT exams 2022, be sure to share it to help others who might be looking to take the exams.

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